


The Good Life

by Danko_Kaji



Category: Final Fantasy X & Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy X-2
Genre: Alternate Reality, Gen, Perfect Ending, good ending
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-12-23
Updated: 2011-12-23
Packaged: 2017-10-27 21:55:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/300457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Danko_Kaji/pseuds/Danko_Kaji
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Flash Fiction. Baralai, Tidus, and an unconventional friendship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> Written based on the prompt list of Final Fantasy Fortnightly.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tidus tries to tell a story. Baralai interrupts. Good Ending.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt #1: "beginnings"

“It all began with a dream...”

Joint vacations have brought friends together far and wide, and Tidus opens his tale with suspense - “To have a dream?” until Gippal kills the mood.

“C’mon, man.” Eyes roll, girls giggle.

“Yevon failed as a Summoner.” Baralai surprises everyone with his condescending quip, thus disguises criticism behind a nonchalant tone. “Summoners are trained not to hold earthly attachment, and yet he did. Yevon turned innocents into Fayth, and they immortalized the memory of a doomed civilization.”

Hush has fallen. Hands folded on his lap, he smiles.

“The dream ended where it began.”


	2. Cherished Item

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Praetor makes an impromptu visit as unintentional competition. Good Ending.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt #2: "cherished item"

In the clutter of Yuna’s hut, Tidus discovers glitter and glamour that does not belong among humble belongings. Fingers tingle when they touch intricate silver and tiny moonstones; an elegant tiara.

 _‘The last time I saw Yuna wear something this fancy was...’_

His mind races. _‘Who would have the money – it’s gotta be somebody she knows – Yuna ain’t the type to accept classy stuff – how long has she been holding on to this?’_

Tidus dashes, scanning the island, and finds Yuna at the beach welcoming an unknown man.

“Hello, Lord Tidus. Milady told me much about you.”


	3. Falling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Men fall in misfortune; once noble, gullible, yet still alive. Tidus and Baralai bond on the beach of Besaid. Good Ending.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt #118: "falling"

Tidus pulls at his folded legs, bored, and Baralai hugs his knees, awkward; one of them soon breaks the ice. “...how did you and Lady Yuna meet, if I may ask.”

The Dream recalls a lost love and old friends bidding him goodbye, ascending clouds, rainbow fireflies, a nostalgic afterlife, and a high five. He snaps out of it, glances at the cousins, listens to pleasant chit-chat and laughter. Rikku braids Yuna’s hair one long extension at a time; her fingers mimic a spiral in movement, in repetition. “It’s a long story...”

Baralai contents himself with silence, lost in deliberation. Tidus gets irritated when he refuses to carry conversation. “How ‘bout you? How did you guys become friends?”

The Praetor remembers a misfit family unite against all odds, rising darkness, dark motives, imaginary shadows, an uncertain future, and a gun shot. He returns to the present and hears horseplay resound in the distance. Gippal wacks Nooj around with his stolen cane and Paine records the hilarity on film; in reality, they are supporting the conspiracy of disbanding New Yevon.

Baralai sighs. “An unfortunate twist of Fate.”

“Would you stop smiling like that? You’re giving me the creeps...”


	4. Parallel Roles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beginning of the end; a new reality. Tidus returns home with a new friend, just like his father before him. Alternate Reality. Baralidus. Companion piece to The Scholar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt #123: "parallel roles"

Zanarkand.

Beautiful and desolate, foreign and in ruination; nothing quite like what Tidus imagined for a homecoming.

The rising sun mimics its decline yesterday, bringing to light everyone's dread and ultimate fear. Dawn shines on metal debris and lingering pyreflies within a melancholy sea, once upon a time vibrant and warm and filled with common leisure, lapping on a shore so imperfect and marred by ancient abuse Tidus laments the dream.

He stands at last and breaks the circle, pausing once to regard his Summoner. Hopeless sympathy touches her shoulder. Afraid to look up, afraid to reiterate excuses which have lost foundation, Yuna drops her head. Grief and resolve speaks volumes. She needs him. Yuna needs them now, more than ever. Tidus scales the small hill near their campsite and spies a young man not much older than himself. Dark-skinned, platinum blonde, brown eyes narrowed on the horizon - his arms are wrapped around his knees, sitting in his signature vulnerable pose.

He sits furthest from the group, seeking solitude to this madness; how ironic, when he belongs most in this world, yet Tidus can't feel any less connected.

_'Tell me a story. Remind me how we first met.'_


End file.
